Media hubris aside, the Angels continue to cruise towards the playoffs, and I guess I should be the first one to suggest that Angels GM Bill Stoneman be voted Executive of the Year. But that’ll have to wait until another column.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

1 Comment

“Ervin’s cold war with the press may have brought him new allies.”

GOOD!

Excellence in team sports favors group identity over individual desires. It means that a good teammate does not expose another teammate for the sake of a story. On the other hand, a good journalist is supposed to report the truth—the good, the bad and the ugly. These are roles with conflicting obligations. Which is why athletes occasionally get burned when they treat reporters as confidantes.

Regardless how much we might wish (or pretend) otherwise, we writers and fans are not Ervin’s teammates. It means that beat-writer blogs claiming to be an “Insider’s Look” are rarely more than oversold promises and wannabe ego. Either they’re not telling everything they know, or more likely, not getting anything special.

Players are boring to interview? What has media presence got do with baseball? More to the point, the inability to tell an interesting story is a failing of our ATHLETES? Am I really supposed to care less about Jeff Mathis’ ability to handle pitchers and more that his locker “looks like the aisle at the grocery store you try to avoid. … packages of Snickers and Oreos, boxes of ‘Nilla Wafers and Little Debbie’s Honey Buns…”?

I’m being a tad hyperbolic here. The last example was in fact a nice hook for the story—the high-caloric fuel for Jeff’s iron-man schedule. Nonetheless, wouldn’t it be wonderful if SPORTS reporters spent more time talking about the GAME, instead of the GOSSIP?

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.